


Up For Some Forte-a?

by adrift_me



Series: Merlin Prompt Fics [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Music, Musician Merlin, Neighbors, Romance, Sweet, annoying neighbor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 19:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4274547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrift_me/pseuds/adrift_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur has a new neighbour, as well as a new headache and a new hatred to music.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up For Some Forte-a?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fluffy fluffness with... fluff. High dose!  
> Being a musician myself I couldn't avoid writing it!
> 
> Thank you very much for reading and please, be so kind to leave your opinion in the comments. Thank you!

Arthur carefully opened the door to his apartment and made a step inside. His ears were strained from intense listening. Silence. There was silence.

He rushed in his apartment as never before, longing to grab the pillow and drown all his bad thoughts and problems. He sank in his bed right in the office suit, two soft pillows under his face. It was so blissful that he couldn’t help a nervous but a relieved laugh.

_*pop*_

Arthur’s muffled cries and desperate groans in a pillow could be heard in the kitchen.

***

“Wow, Arthur, you look terrible,” said Gwen, entering Mr. Pendragon’s office and placing a stack of papers on his piled desk.

“How would you look when a musician deprives you of your last chance of sleeping,” mumbled Arthur, closing his face with hands.

“Oh!” exclaimed Gwen with a chuckle. “A handsome musician, I hope?”

He looked at his PA with a reproachful look but Gwen knew him too well to give in. She sat in front of him and stared with curiosity.

“Guinevere! It’s my neighbour,” he said, leaning back on his big office chair and placing hands under his head. “He must have moved in a week ago because since last Wednesday I didn’t have a single day of rest.”

“Is he playing later than 8PM? You could always call the housing office,” shrugged Gwen. Arthur shook his head.

“No, he always stops playing in the evening.”

Gwen looked at him with a sympathetic smile. She knew of Arthur’s troubles of sleeping and the only time for him to successfully fall asleep was early evening. He treasured this time and tried not to stay at work too late to get at least a few hours, the rest of which were stolen by insomnia.

“Would you like some coffee, Arthur?” she stood up and gestured towards the door. “I’ll add your favourite cherry tart.”

He looked at his PA with so much love that she giggled and left the office with a wide smile. He stared after her, hands still placed under his head. Arthur knew Gwen since school. Despite many differences they were good friends, best friends in fact. She was a good listener and advisor, she was a nice drinking pal and well, she was all one could ask for a best friend. Arthur saw no one as his PA but Gwen, for she was punctual, responsible and she could never bore him to death.

Much to Arthur’s pleasure the day was flowing smoothly, no scandalous clients or accidentally shredded documents. By the time it was 5, Arthur was pleased to note that there wasn’t even any call from his father.

He gathered his things, throwing a few papers in a case. Gwen was standing in the doorway, half dressed in her coat.

“Good night, Arthur,” she smiled at him, fixing her hair.

“Good luck with Lancelot,” replied Arthur with a grin. She rolled her eyes and ran out of the office. Arthur could hear her little heels, tapping on the tiles. Of course, he knew about Lancelot, as if the whole office didn’t. A newly hired programmer, handsome and quiet. When he and Gwen looked at each other, Arthur wondered why the sparks hadn’t started flying out yet.

With a deep sigh Arthur left the office building of Pendragons Inc. and headed home by car. The closer he drove, the worse his mood turned. He didn’t know what to do with the musician. Of course, he could always pull some strings and get this neighbour out of his apartment any moment, but Arthur wasn’t a dick. Not that he was nice either, as his sister Morgana loved to point out.

Arthur heard the piano playing coming up to his door. It was definitely coming from upstairs. The nameless neighbour was practising gammas. Slowly, quickly, slowly, quickly.

“Damn it,” Arthur breathed out, dropping the keys. When he finally managed to get inside the apartment, gammas were gone, but now the musician was playing something fast and practice-y. Arthur groaned. There was absolutely no chance of sleeping tonight.

***

The next day Arthur was late for work, as he managed to doze off right before his alarm went off. He arrived to the office much later to receive a ton of papers to sign and a few missed calls from very important nobs. Gwen treated him with some coffee and tarts again.

“Why don’t you just talk to him? Tell him about your situation. I’m sure he will understand,”  suggested Gwen when Arthur complained about the neighbour again. He shrugged thoughtfully.

“Maybe I should.”

“But please, Arthur, when I say “talk”, I mean “talk”. Not “storm in his apartment and smash his face”, alright?”

“When did I ever smash anyone’s apartment? Or face!” Arthur objected hotly. Gwen was chuckling at him.

“Okay, you haven’t, but you very well may.”

Heading home, Arthur was determined to follow his friend’s advice. He will just come up there, knock or buzz, tell this guy that he bloody needs sleeping and will be off to enjoy blissful peace. It was the ideal plan.

But it was not destined to happen. When Arthur was one level higher than his own apartment, he buzzed the little black button. Buzzed again and again, but apparently, nobody was home. Arthur had to suppress a victorious yell. He could sleep tonight!

***

Astonishingly, there was no music for an entire weekend. Arthur was so glad that his days off were silent, that he even thought of forgiving the nameless neighbour. However as the new week kicked off, the musician seemed to have returned and updated his repertoire. Apart from gammas he was now practising immensely long pieces of music and it sounded very much like he was composing rather than playing.

Arthur was lying on the couch on his back, staring into the ceiling, as if he could look through it with an X-ray vision. He hoped that his eyes might also drill a hole in the ceiling and he could get to this musician.

In half an hour the musician finished his composing and returned to gammas. Arthur stood up. He needed to do something about it. But the moment he headed to the door, the neighbour played something vaguely familiar.

“Hey, I know that!” exclaimed Arthur, looking up at the ceiling. Playing stopped dead and he bit his lip awkwardly. Perhaps, the musician heard him? But he resumed playing the same tune.

It was the “Avengers‘ theme, one of Arthur’s favourite movies. He returned to his couch. Perhaps, he could bear it as the musician played really well and skillfully.

As if to please Arthur the musician played some more famous tunes from various movies. Arthur found himself quite enjoying the music this night and he even managed to fall asleep eventually, when the neighbour played a particularly calm theme.

***

The next morning Arthur was sitting in his kitchen, helping himself to toasts and orange juice. There was a stack of papers in front of him, which he was reading through. He heard a very silent swish of paper and looked around in search of a document he lost. Instead he saw something at the entrance door, a small piece of paper lying next to the “welcome mat”. He walked to pick it up.

“If there is anything else you want to hear, just write it down and slide under my door”

And next to the note was a large stupid smiley. Arthur chuckled and loudly let air through his lips. He reached for his pen and quickly scribbled some movies which he liked. He hoped that the musician would understand his handwriting and entertain him with main themes.

Such note exchanging lasted for about two weeks. Now Arthur was eager to come home not only to leave work but to be in time for the musician’s playing. They started writing down times when they were both at home. But they never exchanged any personal info: no names, no numbers, nothing.

And Arthur started wondering if he would like to get to know the musician more.

***

It was one of those Fridays when you have a dozen friends to meet but all your thoughts are about a couch, beer and peace. Arthur was ignoring all the calls, having stuffed his phone in a glovebox of his car. He drove up to the apartment building where he lived and walked down the brightly lit hall. Next to the elevator stood someone who Arthur paid no attention. He just joined him in waiting for the elevator to come down.

As they both entered, the doors closed with a high ding and the slow movement began. Arthur stood in the corner, leaning on the metal railing, while the stranger was holding onto it. Now that it was inevitable, Arthur looked at his elevator companion. He’d never seen him before and assumed him to be a guest of one of the tenants.

The stranger was dressed all in black. He had a large backpack on his back. The young man was wearing headphones. His eyes were partly closed as he obviously enjoyed music he was listening to. His hand was holding onto the metal bar and Arthur couldn’t fail to notice how elegant his fingers were, flexible and long as he tapped with them on the railing in rhythm to music.

And then something clicked in Arthur’s mind, gears started working fast and he couldn’t shut his mouth before blurting out:

“You are the musician?”

The young man frowned and opened his eyes. Arthur was staring at him incredulously. The young man slowly pulled his headphones out of his ears and asked hesitantly.

“Sorry, have you been talking to me?”

“Yes! Are you the bloody musician from upstairs?” repeated Arthur, trying not to burst laughing at the man’s face, blank and blushing. He nodded at him and then his eyes grew wider.

“And you must be the Avengers fan?” he smiled at Arthur. They shook hands. At this moment the doors of the elevator opened to reveal the hall, leading to Arthur’s apartment, but he quickly pressed the button to the level up. The young man just opened his mouth and shut it again.

“I have long wanted to see the instrument,” smiled Arthur, shifting at the metal railing. His neighbour blushed even more and Arthur found his reddened cheeks quite endearing, as well as his big ears. He assumed a musician like this must have such big ears.

“I am not sure I invited you… But you are welcome to come, sure,” said the musician, when the doors of the elevator slid open again and let the two men out. They proceeded inside the apartment which stunned Arthur for a moment or two. The living room was crammed with all sorts of midi-keyboards. In the centre of the room stood a grand piano, the surface of it piled with sheet music. The young man quickly shove them all in one stack.

“Sorry, I am messy when it comes to music,” he said. Arthur looked around more to see a small kitchen and two doors, leading to bathroom and bedroom, of course.

“It looks like you are messy when it comes to everything.”

The apartment wasn’t dirty, but it was piled up with items in wrong places. A lot of sheet music was resting on shelves, kitchen counters and even in the shoe shelf.

“What’s your name, Mozart?” asked Arthur, coming up to the grand piano and gently touching its polished black cover.

“Merlin. Merlin Emrys,” said his neighbour, now rummaging in the kitchen. “Drink?”

“You do know how to treat a guest, Merlin,” Arthur called out. Merlin showed up with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Arthur whistled and the musician’s pink cheeks turned vibrant red. Perhaps, it was even more endearing than the crimson skin of his face.

“Are we on the wine stage already?” asked Arthur with a smile, accepting a glass of wine and intentionally brushing Merlin’s fingers as if to check they were real. Smooth and pale, they were not the only handsome part of Merlin. As he seated himself in an armchair in front of Arthur, Pendragon could see all the elegance of the musician. He had short black hair and deep eyes. His neck gracefully slid in spread shoulders. Merlin was blushing under Arthur’s intense observing and Arthur wanted to know how he could make this young man blush even more.

***

“Arthur, you really don’t have to...” mumbled Merlin, staring at the instrument in his living room. It was a large synthesizer with a dangerous amount of buttons, which Arthur had no idea about. Merlin was stuttering and mumbling something incomprehensive now, his hands on his face.

“Now you will have a proper instrument!” said Arthur brightly, resembling a manager in a shop. He was eager to advertise his own gift to Merlin in the best ways he could. “See, polished, fancy, with lots of buttons and er...”

He rummaged in his memory for what the music shop assistant said.

“Ah, balanced weighted hammer action! And...”

But before Arthur could proceed with babbling nonsense about the synthesizer, he felt himself embraced so tight that there was hardly any air left in his lungs. Merlin was so close to him, pressing his lips hard in Arthur’s mouth. They kissed and kissed and Arthur didn’t want any other reward but his boyfriend's hands on his back, pressing him closer, even if there was no space between them already.

“Thank you,” murmured Merlin, running his long musical fingers through Arthur’s hair. There was no time for it, Pendragon thought, catching Merlin’s lips again and avoiding the synthesizer behind his back as they found their way to the couch.

**Author's Note:**

> For any questions, typo reports and suggestions, please contact me on [Tumblr](http://accio-toffy.tumblr.com/)


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